(Newser)
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Arctic adventurers of yore probably never imagined a day when a few guys in a rowboat could traverse the Northwest Passage. But that's exactly what four Vancouver residents plan to do over a 75-day span this summer, reports the Toronto Globe and Mail. Their 1,900-mile journey is being sponsored by a green-energy company that wants to call attention to global warming.

“The expedition can only happen because the polar ice caps are melting at an alarming rate,” says the CEO of Mainstream Renewable Power. Not that it will be an easy task—the four men still expect to be dealing with ice, storms, and the occasional polar bear from their 23-foot boat. “Several people have kayaked it over [a section at a time] over several years," says the team leader, whose day job is as an architect. "But no one has ever done this under human power in a single season. Not even close." (Read more Northwest Passage stories.)